Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux - Table of Contents
Customizing the Open Panel
Open Panel Setting Customizations
Saving a New File
File Naming
Saving Changes to Your Documents
Saving a New Version
Text Editing Basics
Selecting Text
Copying and Moving Text
Chapter 6—Organizing Your Files
Getting Organized: Creating a Folder
Copying Files and Folders
Copying Files Using Drag and Drop
Copying Files Using the Clipboard
Moving Files and Folders
Linking Files and Folders
Replacing a File or a Folder
Deleting a File or Folder
Moving a File or Folder to the Trash
Retrieving a File or Folder from the Trash
Emptying the Trash
File Properties
Renaming a File or Folder
Setting File and Folder Permissions
Changing the Group of a File or Folder
KDE Templates
Chapter 7—Working with Disks
Configuring the System to Allow Users to Access the
CD-ROM and the Floppy
Starting a Superuser KFM Session
Enabling Regular Users to Access Disk Devices
Creating kdelnk Files for the Floppy and CD
Copying Files to or from a Floppy
Opening and Saving Files to a Floppy Disk
Accessing the CD-ROM
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/ewtoc.html (3 of 11) [1/27/2000 5:48:30 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux - Table of Contents
Logging in Through a Console
What Shell Are You Running?
Command Line Program Syntax
Navigating the File System
Where Are You?: pwd
Listing Files
Listing Directories Remotely
ls in Technicolor
Making Shell Options the Default
Changing Directories: cd
Relative and Absolute Paths
Filename Expansion: Tab
Exiting the Console
Shutting Down a Linux Box
Rebooting a Linux Box
Chapter 12—Working with Files on the Shell
Working with Files and Folders
Creating a New Empty File: touch
Removing Files: rm
Creating a Directory: mkdir
Removing an Empty Directory: rmdir
Copying Files: cp
Moving Files and Directories: mv
Creating Links: ln
Reading Files
Concatenating: cat
Viewing a Page at a Time: less
Peeking at the First Few Lines: head
Peeking at the Last Few Lines: tail
Chapter 13—Text Editing under a Shell
An Improved Visual Editor: Vim
Interactive Vim Tutorial
Vim Basics
Accessing the Shell from Vim
Other Stuff
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/ewtoc.html (5 of 11) [1/27/2000 5:48:30 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:1, 2, 3 Go!
To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Manuel Ricart
Go! ISBN: 078971826x
Publication Date: 12/22/98
Keyword
Brief Full
Advanced
Search this book:
Search
Search Tips
Go!
Table of Contents
-----------
1, 2, 3 Go!
Welcome to Linux! It’s the software that is grabbing the world’s attention as a
reliable and powerful operating system (OS). At the time of this writing, Linux
and Windows NT are the only OSs gaining market share. Most other OSs are
either stagnant or are losing their share to Linux or Windows NT.
How to Use This Book
This book is a gentle introduction to Linux, and as such, it is not intended as a
comprehensive guide. On the contrary, great effort has gone into this book to
keep it from becoming yet another comprehensive reference guide. I’ve been
selective about covering the topics you are most likely to use early in your
Linux hacking career.
One of the interesting things about Linux, and UNIX in general, is that
learning new ways and tools is almost an endless task. There are many
tools—too many to cover even in several “comprehensive” volumes. Much of
the comprehensive and exhaustive reference for Linux is readily available in
various forms, some of which will be installed into your computer as part of
the installation process.
In contrast, this book focuses on how to make you self-sufficient. It teaches
you two ways of working with Linux: using the X graphical environment (with
KDE) and using the shell, the command line interpreter so closely associated
with UNIX. And, if you are managing your own Linux computer, there are
some administrative tasks that you need to learn how to do.
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about.html (1 of 5) [1/27/2000 5:48:32 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:1, 2, 3 Go!
So how is this book organized? Installation and first-time configuration
instructions are located in Appendix A, “Linux Installation.” Appendix B,
“OpenLinux Compatibility Guide,” provides you with an up-to-date list of the
ever-growing and ever-changing list of hardware that is known to be
compatible with Linux. While mapping your installation plan, you should
verify that your hardware is listed and known to be compatible with
OpenLinux.
After your initial Linux installation and configuration, start with Part 1,
“Working with Linux in a Graphical Environment—The KDE Desktop,” and
read the chapters in order. (We’ve structured the chapters counting on you
doing so.) Part 2, “Working on the Command Line,” introduces similar
concepts as Part I, this time using a shell instead of a graphical user interface.
Last, Part 3, “Essential System Tasks Under Linux,” focuses on various
administration tasks that you’ll need to do occasionally. Keep in mind that
while you are learning Linux, you are also learning UNIX. What you learn
here will transfer with little modification into other UNIX environments.
Have fun getting to know your new operating system!
Why Linux?
So why all the attention? UNIX has been around for a number of years, and
although believed by some to be the only choice among real OSs, it has
remained in the vertical market arena until very recently. But what does this
mean? UNIX (or Linux, which is based on UNIX) provides a very robust
environment in which to run and deploy applications. By design, it offers the
following features:
• Multiuser support
• Security
• Full multitasking
• Networking support for client and server applications
• Source code
These are features that some of the PC OSs available today don’t offer, or they
have been added as an afterthought. These are all very important features,
especially in the context of today’s networked environments where computers
share information.
Unlike Windows-based systems, UNIX is able to support multiple users
concurrently. A single UNIX/Linux computer can have multiple users working
on it (running programs, accessing files, and other services) at the same time,
either seamlessly across a network or through a directly attached console (a
screen and keyboard).
As a result, UNIX and Linux offer an environment where many (hundreds) of
users can simultaneously access a system, if the system has enough resources.
With so many potential users, how do you protect important files from
unauthorized access? Linux’s UNIX roots handle security transparently, not as
an afterthought, but as part of the Linux way of life. In order for you to work
on the computer, you have to sign in.
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about.html (2 of 5) [1/27/2000 5:48:32 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:1, 2, 3 Go!
Security isn’t Linux’s only kudo. It’s also an expert juggler! How else could
you simultaneously support multiple users? Linux is a multitasking OS. It
juggles multiple programs and users at the same time, creating the illusion that
each user is working on his or her own computer. Obviously, only a little tiny
bit of work can be done in a slice of time, but the illusion is well maintained.
Other OSs that claim to be multitasking usually don’t scale well. When a few
users are accessing the services, performance rapidly decreases. The juggling
illusion becomes reality for platforms that support multiple processors. The
computer can, in fact, juggle multiple things at the same time. The Linux OS
takes advantage of these hardware configurations and makes use of the
additional processing power to increase performance to new levels—usually
with better results than the original OS the hardware was designed for.
Many of today’s computers rely on a networked environment. “The network is
the computer”SM is the famous slogan for Sun Microsystems, a large UNIX
vendor. The network is indeed the computer. Information exchange via email,
the Web, and other mechanisms is an everyday fact. Linux can not only
participate as a client for such services, but it can also offer them to other PCs
and workstations. Linux, in fact, powers many Internet service providers
(ISPs) and the users who access the ISP’s services. It is well tested and
reliable.
Not many commercial environments provide the source code to how they
work, and then do so freely. That’s where Linux steps out from the crowd!
Having the source code allows information service (IS) departments, or
hackers as well, to customize the particular behavior of the OS or a program
distributed with it to fit a particular need. Companies concerned about security
issues can examine how the software really works and make their own
evaluations and adjustments. In the event of a problem, someone with the right
background can generate a fix, usually within hours of a problem or security
issue being discovered. Compare that to waiting for days, weeks, or months for
bug fixes—the norm that most of us have come to expect with other OSs. For
the student, having access to the source code provides insight into how
systems are made and built.
On the downside, UNIX and UNIX-like OSs have lacked ergonomics on the
surface, providing confusing interfaces that vary from program to program and
vendor to vendor, and generally aren’t intuitive for nonexpert-type users.
Mainstream application developers not seeing profitability with these
environments have chosen to keep their wares on other, more profitable OS
platforms. But that attitude is rapidly changing in the Linux market.
With its newfound popularity, Linux has encouraged big software developers
such as Oracle, Sybase, Corel, and many others to develop versions of their
applications for Linux systems. The world is beginning to take Linux
seriously—and a little sponsoring goes a long way! This in itself has generated
additional media interest, and Linux coverage has changed from a curiosity in
obscure publications to a viable business option and alternative to heavyweight
products from other companies. This is great news, because the more
developers entering the Linux arena, the more popular and accessible this OS
environment becomes!
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about.html (3 of 5) [1/27/2000 5:48:32 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:1, 2, 3 Go!
With the advent of Linux, the infrastructure (the guts of what makes UNIX so
robust) suddenly is available free of charge. In a world where a desktop license
for the average commercial UNIX is several thousands of dollars, this is
indeed a very good breakthrough. It has eased Linux into environments where
UNIX would never have been considered due to price constraints.
No doubt much of its popularity starts with it being available for its nice price:
free for the download or for under $50 if you want it packaged into a CD—or
if you bought this book, you got an even better deal! It most definitely is
priced to sell. Commercial distributions of Linux include additional
commercial software that further enhances its value for resolving additional
business-type problems.
Also helping with the Linux craze is the advent of the Internet. Many people
requiring a robust environment to handle their Internet services, such as the
World Wide Web, email, and others, have traditionally considered UNIX to be
the natural for this. From the beginning, most of the things you hear about
today were available and developed there first. Macintosh and Windows-based
machines only recently (in UNIX terms) have become networked. But even
today, they still don’t have the same robustness when playing server roles.
UNIX machines have been participating in networks since almost the inception
of networks.
Linux is a new concept for UNIX. It is freely available and supports cutting
edge hardware, not to mention it’s much easier to use than the UNIX systems
that preceded it. That’s not saying that rough edges are not to be found,
however. Although Linux is not particularly difficult to learn, any difficulty
comes with the increase in functionality. All powerful and flexible things are
usually complicated; to say that Linux isn’t powerful would deny its flexibility
and complexity. New desktop environments, such as the K Desktop
Environment (or KDE for short), are promising high-quality user interfaces
that provide cutting-edge features previously unavailable to UNIX-like
systems. Revitalized ergonomics provide a price-feature comparison not
previously possible.
Included with this book is Caldera’s OpenLinux 1.3. Caldera has positioned its
Linux distribution as the commercial strength, reliable version of Linux. Some
of its features are very nice when compared with the other popular distribution
(RedHat). The additional add-ins provided by Caldera (Sybase, NetWare
support, and so on) make it easy for OpenLinux to migrate to your workplace.
Recently, the city of Medina, Washington (population 3,082) selected
OpenLinux to implement its document management system. The reason for
this move was related to the 40,000+ construction permits, blueprints, change
orders, and other documents related to the construction of the $53 million
home that Microsoft’s Bill Gates built there. The city’s choice came at the
realization that there was no more room for any future paperwork, and it would
be required either to build a new town hall or to install a document
management system. Naturally, Microsoft Windows NT was looked into as a
potential solution, but after realizing that the OpenLinux solution would cost
less than 10% of the NT solution, OpenLinux won the city’s business. Talk
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about.html (4 of 5) [1/27/2000 5:48:32 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:About the Authors
To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Manuel Ricart
Go! ISBN: 078971826x
Publication Date: 12/22/98
Keyword
Brief Full
Advanced
Search this book:
Search
Search Tips
Go!
Table of Contents
-----------
About the Author
Manuel Alberto Ricart is a trainer and engineer for Paradigm Research, Inc.
(http://www.pri.com), a Silicon Valley–based training company. Alberto
develops instructional materials for Java and Internet programming
technologies. Paradigm Research, Inc. delivers its training materials to a
number of Fortune 500 and notable high-tech companies, including
Hewlett-Packard, MCI, Ford, and Netscape Communications, Inc.
Alberto has been involved with computers since the late 1970s, when he was
introduced to programming on a then–state-of-the-art IBM system 32, which
had a whopping 32KB of RAM and a tiny hard disk. Since then, he has
developed a number of software products for the Macintosh operating system
(OS), the NEXTSTEP OS, and, more recently, Java. Alberto has also provided
UNIX and Internet networking support to a wide range of clients since the
mid-1980s. He holds both bachelor’s (1987) and master’s (1989) degrees from
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
In 1992, he founded a software company, SmartSoft, Inc., that developed a
wide range of commercial object-oriented software tools for the
NEXTSTEP/OPENSTEP (UNIX) OS. His products were sold worldwide.
In 1995, he cofounded a second firm dedicated to building Internet solutions
that enabled companies to harness the Internet for business. His specialty is
dynamic content-driven intranets and electronic commerce solutions. He has
developed custom technologies used by notable companies such as Oshkosh
B’Gosh and Warburg Pincus Funds.
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about_author.html (1 of 3) [1/27/2000 5:48:33 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:About the Authors
Alberto specializes in the invention and design of software products and tools.
His focus is Internet and Web core technologies such as the Apache and
Netscape Web servers, Perl, JavaScript, Java, and all the other technologies
required to support them, such as UNIX network connectivity and
administration. Since 1996, Alberto has used Linux extensively in the
development and deployment of many Internet Web sites and intranet projects.
His book Apache Server Survival Guide (published by sams.net, ISBN
1-57521-175-0) has been published in hard copy and included in two other
electronic publications relating to the RedHat LINUX OS.
Alberto can be reached at alberto@pri.com, where he can usually be
found tinkering with technologies all day long.
Dedication
To Diana, Julisa, Isabella, and Viviana: You make it all possible.
Acknowledgments
Writing a book is a monumental task that touches on the lives of many people.
As usual, my personal monumental tasks get in queue during those times I
tend to have more than enough to do. I am still trying to figure out a way of
making the process easy on me and my family. Ideals are nice things.
To my beautiful and wonderful wife, Diana, and my three beautiful girls,
Julisa, Isabella, and Viviana, this book is for you. I know I blew a summer for
the second time. I think I know how you feel.
Knowing that single individuals cannot accomplish monumental tasks, many
thanks are also needed for people whom I have never met in person, yet their
periodical emails and phone calls made them seem closer than they are:
Laura Bulcher for making sure that I wrote what I meant to say.
Grace Buechlein for facilitating the many opportunities and
making it all possible.
Aron Hsiao and Jeff Perkins for playing the reader’s role and
verifying that my writings are not fiction and that what I said
works exactly how I say it does. (Any discrepancies are their fault
and not mine A.)
All others, anonymous editors and formatters whose names I have
no idea of, for making the production of this book a reality.
And, finally, Mr. Zero, Stephen Asbury—a friend since the NeXT
days, with whom I share the unique pragmatic understanding of
the good and evil in technology—for patiently listening to my
colorful complaints while developing the “uphill” portion of this
book.
Note:
Linux is an evolving operating system. That’s why it’s all the more
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/about_author.html (2 of 3) [1/27/2000 5:48:33 PM]

Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux:The First Login on the KDE Desktop
To access the contents, click the chapter and section titles.
Complete Idiot's Guide to Linux
(Publisher: Macmillan Computer Publishing)
Author(s): Manuel Ricart
Go! ISBN: 078971826x
Publication Date: 12/22/98
Keyword
Brief Full
Advanced
Search this book:
Search
Search Tips
Go!
Previous Table of Contents Next
-----------
Part 1
Working with Linux in a Graphical
Environment—The KDE Desktop
Okay, so you’ve installed Linux (Part 4 walks you through that), and you’re
ready to face the beast. Guess what: You’re in for a surprise! Part 1 gives you
a look at the kindler, gentler side of Linux—the K Desktop Environment, or
KDE. The chapters in this section walk you through working with applications,
teaching your files who’s boss, and communicating on the Web. We even take
a look at how to customize KDE so that it looks and works the way you want it
to. Are you ready to get this adventure started? Slide into your walking shoes,
grab some snacks for the trip, and let’s get moving!
Chapter 1
The First Login on the KDE Desktop
This section assumes that you have already installed Caldera OpenLinux. If
you didn’t read the introduction, I recommend that you do so now, as the
introduction explains the logical order for this book and some of the
conventions used throughout.
In This Chapter
• Getting into Linux
http://www.itknowledge.com/reference/standard/078971826x/ch01/007-012.html (1 of 4) [1/27/2000 5:48:36 PM]